Time Out

i usually give warnings, but sometimes i suggest to paris that she might like to go there herself. she was being all grumpy tonight and i said to her - i think if you are going to be grumpy you need to do it somewhere where i cannot see - how about you go and be grumpy on your matress, and off she went and sat in there till she cooled down.

yeah,i did put him there straight away after he kindly showed me his artwork.

We've used time out now for a few months. I used to smack, but then I got to a point where I felt like every second phrase out of my mouth was "Stop it or you'll get a smack" and I didn't like it. So we sat down and made a 'deal' that I would never smack her again (I sometimes really regret promising her that!). So we use Time Out. I used to put her in the hallway but she wouldn't stay there, so now she goes in the bathroom. Partly coz it's boring, but also coz I read somewhere (go Dr Phil!!) that a child's bedroom should be a safe haven for them so shouldn't be used in punishment. Made sense to me.

I sooo wish I could reason with Maya, but she is such a determined, independent little spirit that it usually ends up in a huge war. Yesterday she spent close to 10 minutes screaming in her bedroom before she calmed down, the day before she screamed from one end of Lynnmall to the other, all these people were staring at me and all these older mothers were giving me the most knowing looks. All because I told her she is too big to be carried now (she even told me " I haven't got legs Mama" when I told her legs were for walking ).
Part of me loves that she is so independent and stubborn but another part of me just wants to strangle her!

Anyways, sorry about the novel. I'm just finding being a Mum really tough right now!

I know what you mean Emma. You get so proud of them accomplishing things by themselves, but there is always a downside....independant vs stubborn!
The neighbours are having some HUGE argument at the moment with their kids. Wish it was in English so i could eavesdrop. Oh well.